Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1138762
P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> weeks prior. Sitting down to review his performance at Rutgers, a game in which he had made seven tackles including two tackles for loss and a strip-sack, Parsons was upset at the grade he had earned from Pry. "He actually gave me a deduction on our grading sheet because I could have had two sacks," Parsons said. "That's the standard with him. He said, 'You could have had it if you could just be as athletic as I know you are.' I rounded wide instead of tight… and he was mad at me." Protesting the critique, Parsons was met by what has now become a familiar refrain. "Do you want me to lower the stan- dards?" Pry asked him. "I'm like, 'No, Coach Pry, keep the standard. You know what, I'll just work at it more,' " Parsons recalled. "He said, 'OK, that's what I thought.' That's why he's my guy." Continuing to work through the rest of the season and into bowl practices, Par- sons demonstrated that Pry's message was being received. Against Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, he made the most of his 44 defensive snaps, racking up a season- high 14 tackles to go along with a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and one quarter- back hurry. Looking back, he views the performance as the highlight of his ;rst season at Penn State. Even though he was stung by the game's result, a 27-24 loss, he saw the defense's performance as a sign of things to come. "I looked around and saw who's coming back and I said, we've got the potential to do great things. And I think that a?er that game, I kind of found myself," Parsons said. "This is the standard I have to play. "I think life is about opportunities and advantages, and you've got to capitalize on every opportunity you get to be great." An even bigger opportunity is coming for Parsons in the ensuing weeks and months, and he knows it. Already the focus of preseason awards watch lists and magazine cover stories, he is unabashedly optimistic about the potential in store for his teammates and himself. Working to improve his pass coverage, his instincts on the ;eld and his understanding of reads and following gaps, Parsons said he believes he can be one facet of a team that can ultimately be great. "The potential is, we can be national champions," he said. "If we live up to that standard." The frequent invocation of "the stan- dard" can elicit groans, but Parsons un- derstands that it's the foundation of the success he hopes to achieve. The other reason to embrace the coaches' approach is that Pry isn't going to stop pushing him any time soon. "Number one, he's fun to mess with," Pry said. "Number two, you've got to keep his butt humble. He's a pretty hard worker, but he's getting an awful lot of at- tention. This guy hasn't even started. "He's a guy who's fun to coach, not just because he's talented, but because he's got a good personality and you've got to keep him in check. He's fun to coach and he's fun to watch play. And he's also a guy who is very talkative and conversational. He's in my o>ce more than anybody else, wanting to talk about this or talk about that. He's a big personality." Big as his personality might be, Parsons also knows there are limits. Before his in- terview had concluded, he was met by yet another interruption. And this time, Pry brought backup in the form of James Franklin. The Lions' head coach helpfully o=ered to clear up any of Parsons' tall tales with a splash of reality, telling a re- porter, "Next time, call me." Moments later, Franklin and Pry le? the room, but not before once again urging Parsons to live up to the standard. Asked why the pair would give him such a hard time, Parsons turned back and smiled. "Well, he says the standard," Parsons said. "That's what I like about them. They get me a lot. But sometimes it's good and sometimes they just like to argue and mess with me. But I mess with them, too, so it's OK." Their dynamic suggests a comfortable rapport. More than that, it's an acknowl- edgement that Parsons is the rare excep- tion who can meet extraordinarily high demands, and it prompts one ;nal ques- tion: Who gets the upper hand? "Oh, Coach always wins," Parsons said. "You can't beat a guy that can control your playing time. You've got to keep lim- its to it. But I get my good ones here and there." With so much potential and so much at stake in the coming season, the Nittany Lions are counting on it. ■ NOWHERE TO RUN Parsons wraps up Illi- nois quarterback Matt Robinson during the Nittany Lions' 63-24 victory in Champaign last season. Photo by Steve Manuel